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Intimacy with God

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What does, God is intimate with those who are intimate with him, mean?

Intimacy is the result of a relevant communicative relationship.

Relevant means that the focus is on prayer and communication with God.

Prayer is the communication tool, as is meditation.

God speaks to us in many ways, but prayer and meditation are the most direct lines of communication.

If we pray and meditate frequently, and listen quietly, He will respond. This does not mean that you must always listen for a voice, you may hear Him in the context of the quiet. It may be a thought, a scripture, a picture, or any number of things.

Intimacy grows as you become more comfortable and spend quality time with God in prayer. This does not mean that you must become a monk dedicating every waking moment in prayer, you can pray a quick prayer, ask Him a question, or find a quiet space and spend minutes to hours with Him. The intimacy is not solely dependent upon the time you spend, but the quality of the time that you spend with Him. Intimacy with God is similar to intimacy with a loved one. The more time you spend with them, the more time you desire to spend with them. (Intimacy must be genuine, it is not a practice, nor is it a scheme to get what you want. Intimacy must be honest.)

Life is hectic at its best. Spending time in communication with God will give you peace, that is greater than you could ever imagine. It centers you. It removes you from the chaos and places you beside still waters. It is an escape from our earthly life and moves us into our spiritual life.

Charles Stanley poignantly stated, “our intimacy with God, determines the impact of our lives. This intimacy is his highest priority for our lives.” Further, in his Life Principles Bible, Zachariah 1:3, Life Lessons, 1:3 reads, “come near to God and he will come near to you, James 4:8.

The moment we sense God’s Spirit convicting us to draw nearer to him, we need to respond with humble hearts—repenting and committing ourselves to him wholeheartedly. Then sustaining peace will flood in as evidence of his presence within us.”

We Are Commanded To Forgive

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From the Voice of Hope

God keeps speaking to me about forgiveness, telling me to share this message with you. ‘It is time to forgive and move forward with your life’. Recently I wrote two posts about forgiveness and today my sister sent me a message on forgiveness that seems to tie it altogether. He is speaking to me in the same way He is speaking to you. We have all been hurt, we have all hurt others. We have all been bound by the sin of unforgiveness. 2026 is our year to forgive and move forward.

Please listen to Lysa TerKeurst’s message. She is a renown speaker and many of you have read her books. This may be one of her most profound messages that will free you from unforgiveness if you are still struggling with God’s command to FORGIVE.

Cut and paste the link to open the message.

https://youtu.be/vVGh0kxR0lQ?si=uI46JmlqiaLEoqzm

May God give us the strength to forgive.

I Forgive Me

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I was listening to Gospel/Christian music this morning, and a song titled “I Forgive Me” by Soul Medicine was playing as I jogged. I believe one of the greatest challenges we face is not forgiving others—it is learning to forgive ourselves. We are both our own best friends and our own worst enemies. We are both saved by grace and sinners. God forgives us but in opposition, Satan tirelessly undermines our blessing by introducing doubt.

Biblestudytoold.com

If we doubt and listen to our own negative self-talk we are negating God’s forgiveness. We must learn to master the authority God gave us to silence the voice Satan whispers in our minds. His voice is very convincing, His temptation is seductive to ignore. After we succumb, he accuses us of our wrongdoing and tells us we are shameful. To truly accept God’s grace, we must learn to silence the voices of doubt and shame. We are willing to accept God’s forgiveness but unwilling to forgive ourselves, thus negating God’s forgiveness. As long as we live in this world, we will struggle and fall short, but Christ’s sacrifice has freed us from eternal condemnation. While God’s forgiveness is assured, Satan works relentlessly to sow seeds of doubt. Doubt steals self-acceptance. When we listen to negative self-talk, we risk undermining the grace God has given us. Accepting God’s forgiveness means silencing the voices of shame and regret. If we do not do this, our past mistakes linger, holding us back from moving forward and fully embracing forgiveness.

Biblestudytools.com

God has given us the authority to silence the whispers of the enemy. However, Satan’s voice is persuasive and he continually tries to convince us we are beyond redemption. If we are beyond redemption, forgiving ourselves seems impossible. True acceptance of God’s grace requires us to master these doubts. When we do not forgive ourselves, we keep the memory of our sins alive, nullifying the freedom God offers.

To profoundly move forward, we must forgive ourselves as God forgives us—letting go of shame, silencing doubt, and embracing the new life Christ has made possible.

As true believers, let us embrace the power of forgiveness—not only towards others, but also ourselves. Just as God has graciously forgiven us, we are called to release self-doubt, shame, and regret, and to accept His grace wholeheartedly. This year, I encourage you to make self-forgiveness a priority, allowing God’s love to renew your spirit and guide you toward a future filled with hope and confidence.

I am attaching the track, I Forgive Me below:

https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-forgive-me/1819791680?i=1819792226

God’s Gift of PEACE

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2026 is the year you claim God’s peace.

Backstory: During one of my many nightly meditations, I found myself pondering, when do I sense peace in my life? My thoughts led to the following conclusions. Do any of them resonate with you?

Whenever you do any of the following and rest on God’s Word, not simply recite scripture but believe them as ‘truth’, you are at peace.

  • When you forgive, you are at peace.
  • When you give from your heart, you are at peace.
  • When you look at your day with no regrets of what could have been or what you lost, you are at peace.
  • When your prognosis is not what you wanted, and you give the condition to God, no holding back, you are at peace.
  • When you wake up in the morning and praise God for another day, you are at peace.
  • When you listen to the news and rebuke the chaos, relying on God instead of succumbing to evil, you are at peace.

I encourage you to ponder moments when you are at peace and share in the comment or reply sections.

PRAYERS ABOUT PEACE

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Job 22:21
Agree with God and be at peace; thereby, good will come to you.

Jude 1:2
May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Luke 2:14
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:9
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

The Lord declared, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27

Receive God’s peace. Believe with your heart that the peace He gives is yours. It is both a promise and a gift.

Beautiful music, copy and paste in your search engine. Produced by AI Suno.com

https://suno.com/s/UR774dC3Swk8fGBa

FORGIVENESS

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Photo: LAB Photos

This year, 2026, is the time to seek forgiveness.

I encourage everyone to not only ask for forgiveness from the Lord for our sins but also to forgive others for any harm they may have caused.

Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT:

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander, and all kinds of evil behavior. Instead, be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness:

1 John 1:5-9 NIV:

“This is the message we heard from him and declare: God is light; in him there is no darkness. If we claim to have fellowship with him but walk in darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

When we consider how God forgives us, we see that forgiveness goes beyond our understanding—it also involves forgetting. God forgives and forgets, and He wants us to do the same. I have been guilty of forgiving and then bringing up the past. I suspect you might have done the same.

True forgiveness means you no longer accusingly mention the past. When you truly forgive, unforgiveness no longer controls you or hampers your spiritual growth. Forgiveness is not only for the one you forgive; it is for your spiritual development.

Let 2026 be a year of intentional forgiveness releasing ourselves from the chains of vindictiveness. In doing so, we move from darkness into light. Our bonds as a family/community are rooted not just in our relationships with each other but also in our relationship with God. Fellowship is not only with God; it is also with family and community.

One of my mother’s famous quotes was, “There’s no time like now.”

Seek God’s forgiveness and forgive others—this process goes hand– in–hand. You cannot expect God’s forgiveness if you have not forgiven others.

Join me, 2026 is our time for restoration and greater spiritual growth. It is ours for the taking, God is waiting.

When You Know Your Prayers Are Getting Through

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When we pray, our prayers rise through the heavens to reach God’s ears. When He hears our prayers, He sends down blessings. Praying is warfare and in the case of Daniel, prayers can be held up in the second heaven.

Psalm 5:3: “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”

The second heaven can be considered Satan’s headquarters. From this position he and his fallen angels do everything they can to bring destruction on the earth and resist the purposes of God’s grace, blessings, and mercy.

As an aside, there are three heavens. The first is the visible heaven, seeing the stars at night, it is our atmosphere; the second heaven is the evil ones’ headquarters, and the third heaven is where God lives. (Derek Prince, pp 128)

The sole purpose of the evil one is to kill, steal and destroy. If prayers are breaking through the heavens and people are being blessed, the evil one is alerted. We become the enemy. Satan doesn’t focus on his followers, those who live a worldly life, he focuses on God’s people, those working to advance the kingdom of God.

Satan is 100% pure evil, and he has a plan to destroy our lives. Satan is our enemy, like it or not. The battle is between good and evil, and we are the prize. Satan desires to keep us from all that God wants for us. He is the enemy of all people, followers of Christ or not.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” John 10:10 NKJV

As our prayers are being answered, he goes on the offensive and stirs up the atmosphere around us. He manipulates circumstances and situations against us. He may cause friction, chaos, loss, and illness, anything that can deter us from our mission. This is deception, he causes us to use our energy to address the things he created around us to dilute and weaken our impact as Prayer Warriors and persistent prayer time.

It is our responsibility to learn to discern the battleground and figure out our strategy to succeed. Do we give up our time in prayer with the Lord to address the chaos the evil one created around us, or do we get up earlier, use our lunch time and go to bed a little later to enter into prayer? “Discernment for the believer is seeing and understanding as God sees and understands. It is the ability to make godly judgments and right appraisals.” (Charles Stanley, pp 53)

When the world turns upside down, take time to discern what is happening and how you will approach it. Do not allow the evil one to dissuade you from your prayer time. We cannot afford to be deceived and sidelined. Our prayers matter and people lives are affected by our praying. Each of our prayers is requesting answers/blessings and resolve in life’s situations and circumstances. The failure to pray for yourself and others leaves everyone prey to the evil ones’ plan for our lives to remain slaves to him and the world.

Do not be deceived, always look through your spiritual lens and cast the evil ones’ efforts as far as the east is from the west. Stay focused on your prayers until you see the blessings manifest. They may manifest in a recognizable way, obvious responses to prayer, or may take another form as God sees fit to advance you into the kingdom. Our prayers may be answered right away, sometime in the future, or not at all, but every prayer has impact and outcomes. We may see some answers to prayers and may not see others. It is all dependent upon how God sees fit to include us in the blessings.

The most important thing is to never stop praying until God leads you to do so. Just make certain you can discern who you are listening to. See my earlier Post on The Voice of God.